1. On September 24, 1789, the Judiciary Act was signed into law by President George Washington. This important piece of legislation established the federal court system and created the position of U.S. Attorney General. Today, New Jersey has three district courts, one appellate court, and the U.S. Supreme Court hears cases from the state.

2. In 1869, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team played their first-ever game against Princeton University. While they lost the match 6-4, it marked the beginning of one of the oldest and most storied rivalries in American sports.

3. On September 24, 1923, the Statue of Liberty was re-opened to the public after having been closed for two years for extensive repairs and renovations. The iconic landmark remains one of the most visited tourist attractions in New Jersey and the United States.

4. In 1960, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon faced off in the first televised presidential debate. The debate, which focused on domestic issues, was watched by an estimated 70 million people and is widely considered a turning point in American politics. Kennedy would go on to win the election in November.

5. In 2003, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples were entitled to the same legal rights as opposite-sex couples. This landmark decision paved the way for the eventual legalization of same-sex marriage in the state in 2013. New Jersey was just the third state in the U.S. to recognize civil unions for same-sex couples.